Coming up: Vocabulary quiz on Wednesday, November 15; handed out yesterday / another copy below.
Your "My Last Duchess" graphic organizers are due at the close of class on Monday. Please plan accordingly. Another copy below. Remember that you do not need to do page 1, as we did not review that material in class.
I
My Last Duchess by Robert Browning
Duchess (n.) – the wife or widow of a duke (the male ruler of a duchy; the sovereign of a small
state)
Frà (n.) – a title given to an Italian monk or friar (a Catholic man who has withdrawn from the
world for religious reasons)
THAT’S my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf’s hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Will’t please you sit and look at her? I said 5
“Frà Pandolf” by design, for never read
Strangers like you that pictured countenance,
The depth and passion of its earnest glance,
But to myself they turned (since none puts by
The curtain I have drawn for you, but I) 10
And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,
How such a glance came there; so, not the first
Are you to turn and ask thus. Sir, ’twas not
Her husband’s presence only, called that spot
Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek: perhaps 15
Frà Pandolf chanced to say, “Her mantle laps
Over my lady’s wrist too much,” or “Paint
Must never hope to reproduce the faint
Half-flush that dies along her throat:” such stuff
Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough 20
For calling up that spot of joy. She had
A heart—how shall I say?—too soon made glad.
Too easily impressed: she liked whate’er
She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.
Sir, ’twas all one! My favor at her breast, 25
The dropping of the daylight in the West,
The bough of cherries some officious fool
Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule
She rode with round the terrace—all and each
Would draw from her alike the approving speech, 30
Or blush, at least. She thanked men,—good! but thanked
Somehow—I know not how—as if she ranked
My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name
With anybody’s gift. Who’d stoop to blame
This sort of trifling? Even had you skill 35
In speech—(which I have not)—to make your will
Quite clear to such an one, and say, “Just this
Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss,
Or there exceed the mark”—and if she let
Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set 40
Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse,
—E’en then would be some stooping; and I choose
Never to stoop. Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt,
Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands; 45
Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands
As if alive. Will’t please you rise? We’ll meet
The company below, then. I repeat,
The Count your master’s known munificence
Is ample warrant that no just pretense 50
Of mine for dowry will be disallowed;
Though his fair daughter’s self, as I avowed
At starting, is my object. Nay, we’ll go
Together down, sir. Notice Neptune, though,
Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity, 55
Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!
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1. List the specific words that are used to describe the Duchess and what this suggests about the relationship with the narrator.
2. What does the Duke mean by “that piece” (line 3)
3. What words indicate Frà Pandolf’s career?
4. To whom is the Duke speaking?
5. Reread the first 8 lines. Who else is speaking?
6. To what is the Duke referring when he says ‘that pictured countenance” in line 7?
7. Explain what the stranger “read[s]” in lines 6–7, “for never read / Strangers like you that pictured
countenance.” What might read mean here?
8. What are some words that the Duke uses to describe the “glance” in line 8?
9. Reread the poem independently
10. This is a dramatic monologue. Drama means story; hence contains literary elements.
a. Who are the characters in the poem?
b. Write a summary of the plot?
11. Paraphrase the lines “Strangers like you always ask me, if they dare, how the Duchess came to look that way in the portrait.”
12. Give two reasons that the the Duke might mention Frà Pandolf twice in the first six lines of the poem?
13. In line 11, what do the words “if they durst” suggest about the Duke’s view of himself?
14. What does the Duke imply when he uses the word “only” in line 14?
15. What does the phrase “that spot of joy” suggest about the Duchess? What does the Duke imply in
lines 15–19 might have caused such an expression?
16. What does the Duke imply when he remarks that, “such stuff / Was courtesy she thought, and cause
enough / For calling up that spot of joy” (lines 19–21)?
17. Reread lines 21–22: “She had a heart—how shall I say?—too soon made glad / Too easily impressed…”
What is the effect of the repetition in these lines? Respond in a complete sentence.
18. What does the Duke mean by “the dropping of daylight in the West” (line 26)?
19. What does the Duke mean when he claims the Duchess’s “looks went everywhere”?
19.
20. What does the Duke mean by the “gift of a nine-hundred years old name” (line 32)? And
20. From the Duke’s perspective, how does the Duchess value this gift?
21. What might the Duke mean when he states, “I gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together” in lines 45–46?
21.
22. How does the repetition of the phrase “as if alive” in lines 2 and 47 impact the poem?
23. The word object:
a. What does the word object mean in line 53?
b. What other meaning does the word object have?
c. What is the impact of Browning’s choice to use the word object in this line?
c.
24. What does the Duke ask the listener to “notice” as they go downstairs?
.
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“My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning vocabulary. Quiz on Wednesday, November 15
1. countenance (noun)- a person’s face or facial expression
2. mantle (noun)- a loose sleeveless cloak or shawl, worn especially by women.
3. bough (noun)- a main branch of a tree.
4. trifling (noun or adjective)- unimportant or trivial.
5. officious (adjective)- assertive of authority in an annoyingly domineering way, especially with regard to petty or trivial matters.
6. munificence (noun)- the quality or action of being lavishly generous; great generosity.
7. dowry (noun)- the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband in marriage
8. to avow (verb)- to declare or state (something) in an open and public way
9. dramatic monologue- (noun) -a literary work (as a poem) in which a speaker's character is revealed in a monologue usually addressed to a second person
10. earnest-(adjective)- a serious and intent mental state
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